UCONN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL: Huskies, Notre Dame know each other very well (videos)

Connecticut guard Caroline Doty stretches during practice at the NCAA Women's Final Four college basketball tournament in Denver, Saturday, March 31, 2012. Connecticut takes on Notre Dame in a national semifinal on Sunday.(AP Photo/Eric Gay)

DENVER -- Familiarity doesn't necessarily breed contempt, but the quest for a national championship might do the trick for the UConn and Notre Dame women's basketball teams.

The two teams headed to New York in mid-October with the same goals. Both the Huskies and Fighting Irish figured they would have to go through one another in their quest for Big East and NCAA championships. That was certainly the case a year ago when Connecticut won both the Big East regular-season and tournament titles, but Notre Dame got the last word with a win in the national semifinals.

Twelve months later not much has changed. Once again UConn and Notre Dame are preparing to meet in the national semifinals and only one of them can proceed forward to Tuesday's national championship game. Eight games in 14 months between bitter rivals could make for some good theater and it certainly figures to make for a passionate game of give and take.

"I don't think anything coach (Geno) Auriemma has said to us hasn't been (thought out) before he says it," ESPN announcer Doris Burke said. "I found it interesting before the second Notre Dame game that he wasn't appreciating certain things that Notre Dame does, certain actions whether specific to (former Notre Dame forward) Becca (Bruszewski, who was accused of engaging in a little trash talking after last year's Final Four game) or in general their approach. To me that represents a sign that he believes Notre Dame is a real threat. He knows he is looking opposite a coaching staff and program that doesn't want to go away.

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"In the past I think coach Auriemma thought Notre Dame would have its period of success and then go away. Based on their recruiting and level of success they had in games against UConn, they are not going away. That is great. We don't want Notre Dame to go away. We want Notre Dame and Connecticut to go at it and I hope it's nasty because that is the best thing for the game. A little animosity is great."

Both sides played down any feelings of bad blood heading into the first of the two national semifinals rather than focusing on the belief that the emerging rivalry has made both teams raise the level of their play.

"I think the fact that we've played each other so many times, you kind of learn how the other team plays and how hard they play," UConn sophomore center Stefanie Dolson. "Obviously there is going to be some chippiness, but I think that's more because of the game. It's the Final Four and you want to get to the national championship."

The UConn/Notre Dame rivalry first took off in 2001 when the Fighting Irish knocked out defending national champion UConn in the national semifinals en route to winning the title.

In the ensuing years Notre Dame struggled to build off of that program-defining win, but that began to change when this current group of players enrolled.

The Fighting Irish beat UConn twice during the regular season, including a win at the XL Center which snapped the Huskies' NCAA Division I women's basketball-record 99-game home winning streak.

"I think everybody else outside calls it a rivalry, we just know they are a great team in the Big East and we both represent the Big East in a really great way," said Notre Dame assistant coach Niele Ivey, who was the point guard on Notre Dame's 2000-01 national championship team. "When you play Connecticut you are playing one of the best teams in the country. They have been a great team for years and it obviously raises your level."

UConn doesn't lose often and doesn't react well when it tastes defeat. When the teams met again in the Big East final the Huskies were ready and responded with one of their best games of the season in winning the championship the Notre Dame veterans so desperately wanted.

"We are looking at this as a revenge game," Notre Dame senior guard Natalie Novosel said. "Me personally, I wanted the Big East championship more than anything. They took something from me and I am looking at it as a revenge game. It is definitely going to be all about the tough plays."